Triumph

Build an analog function generator.

That was the task for the Analog Electronics Project Laboratory (EE 90) course at Caltech for Spring 2019.

Aside from several minimum requirements - sine, square, and triangle waves over a minimum frequency range and with adjustible output amplitude - with the stipulation of no digital components in the signal path, I was pretty much given free reign. Other students produced designs that bristled with features or emphasized the accuracy of the signals. I created Triumph - an open source function generator that seeks to achieve the perfect balance between functionality, performance, and aesthetics.

The base function generator circuitry consists of just four opamps, one comparator, two diodes, and one BJT. With several control knobs, the function generator can produce accurate waveforms over a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes. The square wave has an adjustible duty cycle.

I designed the enclosure in SolidWorks and produced it over the course of three days of fiddling around with laser cutter settings in the Caltech machine shop. White paint - regular old acrylic paint - does wonders when painted into engravings on black acrylic sheets.

Source: ElectronicToast/triumph